Top Rated Schools in St. Paul

Let’s face it, not every kid in Minnesota can attend Edina High School, U.S. News and World Report’s number one high school in the state. That doesn’t mean, however, that you are shut out of finding a quality school, especially in St. Paul.

When it comes to determining a “top school” in any district, it depends on who is doing the rankings. We used a number of sources for our list. Read on.

Higher Ground Academy

With 690 students and 45 teachers, the student/teacher ratio at Higher Ground Academy (15:1) is about average for the state. Where the school excels, however, is in getting their students ready for college.

U.S. News ranks the academy’s high school at number 19 in Minnesota and number 935 nationally. The editors were impressed that 85 percent of Higher Ground students participate in Advanced Placement® course work and exams.

Higher Ground Academy is a charter school serving students in grades K through 12 and it’s located in the Snelling Hamline neighborhood.

Capitol Hill Magnet/Rondo

Capitol Hill Magnet/Rondo serves students in grades 1 through 8. It is ranked the number one elementary school in the St. Paul School District.

School rating website SchoolDigger.com awards the school with their highest honor – five out of five stars, although the school’s statewide ranking with the site fell from number 22 to number 57 from 2013 to 2014.

GreatSchools.org awards Capitol Hill nine out of 10 stars. Parent reviews on the site claim their appreciation of the number of gifted and talented students among the student body, the excellent teachers and the involved parent group.

Capitol Hill Magnet/Rondo elementary students scored in the 91.9 percentile range overall on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments Series II (MCA-II) exams. The middle school students’ scores were 83 percent. Students here do particularly well on the math portion of the exams.

Capitol Hill Magnet/Rondo is located in the Summit-University neighborhood of St. Paul.

Nova Classical Academy

St. Paul’s Nova Classical Academy is a K through 12 public charter school located in the West Seventh neighborhood. There is no tuition here and the school offers a language-centered curriculum.

The student/faculty ratio at Nova is 15:1 and 52 percent of the faculty members hold master’s degrees or higher.

GreatSchools.org awards Nova nine out of 10 stars. Ninety one percent of third grade students are proficient in math according to their scores on the reading and math portion of the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments Series II (MCA-II).

The school offers basketball, hockey and wrestling in addition to their academic schedule.